Did You See That?
One of the ways to come up with ideas for songs is to try look at the world through fresh eyes. I mean by that, wherever you may be look around you will find that there are ideas all around you. All you have to do is see them.
Let’s take a mundane situation. Let’s say you ride the bus every day to work; day in, day out, same bus ride, same route, same bus driver. Tomorrow when you ride the bus, put the paper down or take the ear buds out of your ears and look around. See that elderly lady sitting across from you? Picture her as a young girl. Was she happy? Did she grow up here? Does she hate it here? Is she lonely? Does she long for someone that’s she’s lost or never had? Notice what she’s wearing. Is it drab? Is it neat? Does she look tired? How about the young boy with his mother near the rear exit door? What does he dream of at night? How about his mom? Is she a single parent? Did she just lose her job? Is she in love?
Like a novelist or a playwright, we should be looking inward as well as outward. The story you’re able to tell the most convincingly in inevitably your own. Listen to your inner voice and try to tap that rich vein of experience. It’s not easy. There’s a certain Zen aspect to it but when you can share with your audience what your voice sounds like in your head, you will connect. Why is it so difficult to share what’s ‘inside’ with the outside world? Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s not easy to understand. It almost always gives you a sense of being vulnerable, and after spending a lifetime of keeping our innermost thoughts a secret, it goes against our nature to share them with strangers. But when we do, we often get more in return.
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Jim Bruno's Songwriting Class 